June 2026 Market Recap: Bitcoin Hits 2-Year Low as ETFs Bleed $8.9B

Bitcoin (BTC) closed June near its weakest level in almost two years after falling to around $58,000 on June 30, while spot Bitcoin ETFs extended a weeks-long run of heavy outflows. The month, according to a Santiment market report, was less about one single crash and more about capital quietly leaving crypto for AI stocks while whales sat on their hands. Bitcoin Struggles as ETF Outflows and Institutional Caution Weigh on Sentiment Per Santiment’s July 2 report, June saw a growing divide between retail traders and large investors, with wallets holding less than 0.

01 BTC increasing their holdings in the final two weeks of the month, while those with between 10 and 10,000 BTC reduced their exposure. This, in the firm’s opinion, suggested that large investors remain unconvinced that the market has found a bottom. Another source of pressure came from ETFs.

Since May 6, the last time there were consecutive days of inflows, spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded about $8.9 billion in net outflows. In June alone $4.

51 billion went out of the funds, marking their worst month since launch, and Santiment argued that such heavy selling, pushing cumulative withdrawals ever closer to the psychologically significant $10 billion mark, can also reflect capitulation, with weaker hands leaving the market after a long decline. The analytics platform also pointed to Strategy and its preferred stock as adding another layer of uncertainty after they fell well below par in June, hitting the $70s at one point and raising concerns about the company’s financial model, especially given the weakening state of BTC at the same time. However, executive chairman Michael Saylor responded by introducing a Digital Credit Capital Framework designed to improve liquidity and support the company’s preferred stock obligations.

He also defended Strategy’s recent sale of 32 BTC, saying that the world’s biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin had bought about 175,000 BTC this year and that he had not sold any of his p